Early years practitioners are themselves part of the provision in any setting. Anne O'Connor outlines their role in and responsibility in promoting learning.

When we develop a 'continuous provision' approach, we are not just making decisions about the layout and organisation of the environment and resources. The approach also demands that we make sense of our roles, relationships and responsibilities as the adults engaging with children while they direct their own play.

Loris Malaguzzi, an important figure in the development of the Reggio Emilia approach, talked about 'the pedagogy of relationship through which children learn their essential connectedness'. A very important aspect of the pedagogical relationship between a child and the practitioner is that it should be reciprocal. This means that the adult and child are partners in the learning process.

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Posted under:

Practice Child Development Enabling Environments Personal social and emotional speech and language Provision Communication